Gaming and Simulation in International Relations

Banks, Michael H.; Groom, A. J. R.; Oppenheim, A. N.

doi:10.1111/j.1467-9248.1968.tb01440.x

Cited by 11 publications

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“…While wargames emerged to prepare for combat, their use extends beyond the study of war. Governments use games to simulate natural disasters and to assess economic cooperation (Abbasi et al, 2012; Smith and Bell, 1992); consultants use wargaming to test new business strategies (Oriesek and Shwarz, 2008); and scholars have applied gaming to study how human behavior affects various social and political phenomena (Banks et al, 1968; Camerer, 2011; Fiorina and Plott, 1978). Thomas Schelling’s work on coercion, for instance, was inspired in large part by Department of Defense wargames he designed (Schelling, 1987), and Schelling’s contemporaries used simulations to explore conflict and nuclear use (Bloomfield and Whaley, 1965; Brody, 1963; Hermann and Hermann, 1967).…”

Section: What Is a Wargame?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Wargaming for International Relations research

Lin-Greenberg

Pauly

Schneider

2021

European Journal of International Relations

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Political scientists are increasingly integrating wargames into their research. Either by fielding original games or by leveraging archival wargame materials, researchers can study rare events or topics where evidence is difficult to observe. However, scholars have little guidance on how to apply this novel methodological approach to political science research. This article evaluates how political scientists can use wargames as a method of scholarly inquiry and sets out to establish a research agenda for wargaming in International Relations. We first differentiate wargames from other methodological approaches and highlight their ecological validity. We then chart out how researchers can build and run their own games or draw from archival wargames for theory development and testing. In doing so, we explain how researchers can navigate issues of recruitment, bias, validity, and generalizability when using wargames for research, and identify ways to evaluate the potential benefits and pitfalls of wargames as a tool of inquiry. We argue that wargames offer unique opportunities for political scientists to study decision-making processes both in and beyond the International Relations subfield.

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Section: What Is a Wargame?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Wargaming for International Relations research

Lin-Greenberg

Pauly

Schneider

2021

European Journal of International Relations

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“…Scholarly literature attesting to the benefits of role play in teaching international relations (IR) and political science (PS) subjects is abundant and universally positive (Asal, 2005;Banks, Groom, & Oppenheim, 1968;Boyer, Trumbore, & Frick, 2006;Chasek, 2005;Dougherty, 2003;Hintjens, 2008;McCarthy & Anderson, 2000;Sasley, 2010;Simpson & Kaussler, 2009). Grounded in constructivist approaches that favour rich experiential learning opportunities, the literature surrounding role play in teaching IR and PS is so overwhelmingly positive when describing learning outcomes (Wheeler, 2006) that it is difficult to find counter-examples of failed or unsatisfactory experiences in this discipline area.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Long Game: Five Years of Simulating the Middle East

Hardy

Totman

2016

AJET

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Scholarly literature attesting to the benefits of role play in teaching international relations or political science subjects is abundant and universally positive. However, despite many case studies presenting snapshots of single examples, long term data concerning a role play exercise is difficult to find. This study presents student feedback data gathered from 10 iterations of the Middle East politics simulation carried out over 5 years from 2011-15. The data obtained from over 600 respondents establishes very clear trends in terms of satisfaction, engagement, and workload. The findings demonstrate that students can be significantly engaged in the subject matter through role plays and that they value these opportunities and the learning that ensues, even though it may represent more work than they are used to allotting to traditional assignments. The results show that year after year, successive student cohorts have made a clear judgement that extra work is worthwhile when it pays off against their perceived learning. The inference can also be drawn that they do not see this same pay off when completing essay type assignments.

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Simeone¹

1968

1968 Annual Supplement

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Gaming and Simulation in International Relations

Cited by 11 publications

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Wargaming for International Relations research

Wargaming for International Relations research

The Long Game: Five Years of Simulating the Middle East

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